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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495592">Even Better</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aomine_ryo/pseuds/aomine_ryo'>aomine_ryo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:48:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,841</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aomine_ryo/pseuds/aomine_ryo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine and Kise were best friends. No one lit a spark in Aomine like Kise did. But Aomine's mess of emotions ended up with him finally admitting that he wanted to be more than just friends.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aomine Daiki/Kise Ryouta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Even Better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on my Tumblr account, aomine-ryo.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>No one knows Kise Ryouta the way Aomine Daiki does. Aomine has seen every side of Kise- the happy, the sad, the hurt, the anger- but there was still more to uncover. Aomine had been best friends with Kise ever since they met in middle school; they even went to the same university together. As days passed, Aomine was sure they were meant to be together, though he wasn’t sure if it was in a platonic way anymore.</p>
<p>“Aominecchi are you gonna play me properly or are you just gonna stand there?” Kise called out, noticing that Aomine seemed a bit distracted. The sound of Kise’s voice echoed through the empty basketball court and it was like music to Aomine’s ears. He loved the nickname Kise had given him, and he was certain that he’d never get tired of hearing the way it rolls off his tongue.</p>
<p>The dark haired boy picked up the basketball that laid on the floor in front of him and jogged back to Kise, who was standing below the hoop with his hands on his hips. “Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. You sure you’re not tired of losing yet?” Aomine teased, because he loved watching the blonde pout- it was kind of cute, though he’d never admit it to himself.</p>
<p>“It’s a two point difference,” Kise defended as he watched Aomine begin to dribble the ball.</p>
<p>“It’s only gonna get wider,” Aomine said smugly, not stopping his eye contact with Kise for even a second as he thought of his next attack.</p>
<p>Kise, being entranced by Aomine’s movements, shifted closer, determined to steal the ball from him so that he could prove him wrong. A fraction of a second passed and Kise felt a gust of air as Aomine zoomed past him, and Kise quickly followed him, adamant on not letting the blue eyed boy score yet again. As Aomine leaped into the air, Kise did the same and savoured Aomine’s shocked expression as the blonde whacked the ball out of his hand before the dunk could be made.</p>
<p>Kise landed back onto the ground rather smoothly whilst Aomine ended up toppling onto the floor. The blonde reached out a helping hand with a wide grin on his face, enjoying every moment of this small victory.</p>
<p>“Not bad, Ryouta,” Aomine acknowledged as Kise heaved him up.</p>
<p>“We’re not done yet,” Kise challenged before running off to get the ball. Aomine knew he wasn’t at his top game that day, he just wasn’t sure why. He’s played Kise so many times before, but he kept getting distracted by every little thing about the boy. Especially those eyes- they were enough to stop Aomine from getting that dunk just then. Why was this happening? He was still winning, but something didn’t feel right; the gap was usually wider.</p>
<p><em>Maybe Kise got better</em>, Aomine thought to himself, not realising that Kise had been talking to him the entire time.</p>
<p>“Hey Aominecchi, is everything okay?” Kise asked, as he poked Aomine’s arm to get his attention.</p>
<p>“Huh? Uh yeah,” Aomine lied, turning to face Kise. It seemed like every part of Kise was screaming to him. Those amber eyes were as mesmerising as ever, that cute little nose sat on his face so perfectly, and those lips.</p>
<p>“It’s just you seem a little…” Kise went on, as the navy haired boy’s eyes were fixated on the way those rosy lips moved as the blonde talked to him. It was almost as if they were pulling Aomine towards them with every word Kise spoke.</p>
<p>Unable to think twice before it happened, the tan-skinned boy had pressed his lips against Kise’s, cutting off whatever he was saying to him beforehand. Aomine quickly realised what he had done when he noticed that the kiss wasn’t being reciprocated, and he pulled back immediately, waiting for something, anything to come out of Kise, other than that shocked expression.</p>
<p>“Aominecchi,” Kise said in what was barely even a whisper. He didn’t say anything afterwards, which drove Aomine insane.</p>
<p>“Oh god, Kise! I shouldn’t have done that,” Aomine said quickly as a wave of panic surged over him. “I-I didn’t mean—”</p>
<p>“Um, I have to go,” Kise muttered as he rushed to the bench and grabbed his belongings.</p>
<p>“Shit, Kise, I’m sorry. Don’t leave,” Aomine pleaded desperately as he followed Kise to the bench. “We can pretend that it never happened!”</p>
<p>Aomine’s words went to waste as Kise ignored everything before he rushed out of the gym. <em>Why did he do that?</em> Tears of frustration began to well up in the boy’s eyes as he tried to figure out why he did that as well as what on earth he was going to do to fix it. It wasn’t like Kise could avoid him forever. They were roommates- he was bound to return to their apartment at some point.</p>
<p>Aomine took a deep breath in as he wiped his tears on the back of his hand. How pathetic.</p>
<p>When Aomine got back home, the blonde was nowhere in sight. So he waited, and waited, and waited. He had sent Kise dozens of texts, none of which garnered a reply. He was up till midnight waiting for the boy, but he never came.</p>
<p>The blue eyed boy woke up in the empty apartment the next morning still hopeful that he’d be able to see Kise at practice later that afternoon.</p>
<p>Aomine went to practice rather early and practiced his shooting as he watched his teammates pile in one by one- none of them being Kise. “Is Kise not coming today?” Aomine asked the team’s captain before practice began.</p>
<p>“No, he said he wasn’t feeling too well,” the captain informed before jogging over to the rest of the team so that they could start their warm ups together.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that Kise was ignoring him. <em>But why? Was the kiss that bad? But it felt pretty nice to Aomine?</em> The dark haired boy wondered to himself as he joined his teammates in running laps around the court.</p>
<p>After practice, Aomine decided to head down to the beach so that he could try to clear his thoughts. Breathing in the salty air, he was reminded of all the times him and Kise would visit the sandy cove for a morning jog or simply just to hang out. Just as he was about to set foot onto the white sand, he found the last person he thought he’d see, simply just sitting there in front of him, watching the waves crash in and slide back slowly. Filled with hope, Aomine rushed over to him, “Kise! You have no idea how glad I am to see you here!” Aomine exclaimed as Kise looked up at him in surprise.</p>
<p>“Aominecchi… how’d you know I was here?” Kise questioned softly, and hearing that nickname again made Aomine feel over the moon as he sat down on the sand next to Kise.</p>
<p>“I didn’t. I guess I got lucky,” Aomine shrugged, feeling nervous now that the chance to talk to Kise about things had finally come. “You didn’t come back home yesterday,” Aomine said, looking out to the horizon and watching as the sun began to sink, “I was worried.”</p>
<p>“Oh, sorry. I just, needed some time to think after… you know,” Kise spoke, his voice still soft, which was quite strange considering he was usually so energetic around Aomine.</p>
<p>“Yeah about that,” Aomine began, trying to piece together the right words to say, “you- no- I, um—”</p>
<p>“Do you like me?” Kise asked, cutting off Aomine’s stutters.</p>
<p>“Of course I like you Kise, you’re my best friend!” Aomine answered almost immediately.</p>
<p>“No, not like that. I mean, do you like me in a way that’s more than liking a best friend,” Kise asked as he looked over to Aomine for a reply.</p>
<p>Aomine’s eyes met his, though he quickly averted his gaze because looking into his eyes was the reason that things were like this in the first place. The boy thought over his feelings towards his best friend. He knew that he wouldn’t want to lose something as special as his bond with Kise, and perhaps a relationship might help strengthen that bond. However, there was a chance that he could lose Kise forever- and he hated that idea. But the truth was, he did have feelings for Kise, he knew this for a while and that kiss was his emotions finally reaching its limits.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I like you in that way too,” Aomine admitted, noticing Kise’s face brighten up for a moment out of the corner of his eye.</p>
<p>“I was hoping you’d say that,” Kise said, a smile breaking out on the corners of his lips. “Honestly, I've been feeling the same way too. I just couldnt bring myself to say anything because, well, what if things don’t work out?”</p>
<p>“Yeah that’s what I’m worried about too,” Aomine admitted as he looked at Kise again, this time unable to stop himself from gazing into the amber eyes that were on full display as the breeze seemed to brush away his gold locks. Aomine realised that looking into those eyes made him sure of one thing— he would do anything to keep Kise in his life. “I think we should go for it,” Aomine stated confidently.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to lose you, Kise. But I have this feeling that we’d both regret it if we don’t give it a try. There’s no one who knows me better than you do and I promise I won’t let anything ruin what we have.”</p>
<p>“Aominecchi…”</p>
<p>“I really like you. Every little thing about you,” Aomine continued, his emotions taking control over his words, “the way you play basketball, the way you say my name, the way you—”</p>
<p>Kise cupped Aomine’s face in his hands and pressed his warm lips against his, cutting the navy haired boy off from what he had to say. Aomine didn’t care though. This was all he wanted and all he could ever want. He didn’t hesitate to pull Kise’s body closer to him as he was finally able to do what he’s been wanting to do with Kise for months, if not years.</p>
<p>Kise pulled away for a moment and giggled, “You’re an even better kisser than I imagined, Aominecchi.” Aomine began to grin as wide as ever at the sound of those words. “I think people are beginning to stare though,” Kise said, as his eyes began to wander to his surroundings. “How about we do this at home?” he winked, which undoubtedly drove Aomine crazy.</p>
<p>As the two of them walked home together, exchanging conversation in the sunset as if nothing had ever changed, Aomine felt as though his heart was going to fly out of his chest because of pure happiness. He was dating a model for god’s sake; that’s the dream for most people— and he was going to live it and do everything in his power to make it last.</p>
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